


We'll Fly Home

by feedback



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Comic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Mention of blood, Mention of torture, Other, Red irises, lots of backstory sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-01-25 02:50:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21349033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feedback/pseuds/feedback
Summary: Peyton and Miles Tresed were separated when Miles was eight years old. He'd gone years without another thought about his brother.Nine years later, when Miles goes on a job in the desert, he runs into a killjoy claiming to be his sibling. Will this encounter change his whole life?
Relationships: Fun Ghoul/Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Jet Star/Party Poison/Show Pony (Danger Days)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	1. The things that we take

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually posting this when I meant to! There will be more at some point though I can't guarantee when
> 
> Work title from Headfirst for Halos
> 
> Dante= Fun Ghoul  
Miles= Kobra Kid
> 
> Enjoy!

Miles Tresed was, as he was told, an above average kid. He excelled in math and science, especially science, which is what the city was always looking for.

At age eight, he was taken away from his regular school, his friends, and his brother. BLI enrolled him in a special academy 'just above the testing labs' as he'd heard in a rumour. There he got trained in science and math, specifically engineering and developmental mechanics where he worked best.

Miles assumed he'd get a nicer job. Maybe coding security systems, or working on the monorails, or repairing city androids and robots. But noooo. "Oh you're the best in science  
Miles! I’m sure you’ll have the best job of your class!" He muttered to himself as he stomped across the abandoned highway. He did only have to come out here once a week, which was nice, but he still despised it. He despised the repairs in the city, too. "Yeah, well look at me now, repairing stupid vending machines in the middle of the desert. There's nobody here!" The machine he was working on was right outside an old diner, whose sign read 'die' instead of 'diner'. Ominous. He slid the item reader into the drop slot, just like every other machine. And just like every other machine, this one would be full and need no maintenance. Why did BLI send him out here if these things weren't even broken?

The reader beeped. Miles held it up to his face, expecting to see it full and working, but the reader said the machine was low on ray guns. "How?! There's no one!" Now he was pissed. Miles knew damn well his administrator would scold him later, but this was more important.

"There's what no- oh. Oh. Holy fuck, Jet!" A red head stuck their head out the doorway of the diner, saw Miles, and scampered off. Maybe that's who's been taking all the ray guns. He groaned, hopefully this wasn't some troublesome killjoy. That's all he needed to top his day off. Miles couldn't wait to get back to his apartment. This was his last stop of the day, he just had to get through this.

Before Miles had a chance to go back to his car and get refills for the ray guns, a much larger person than the first came out of the doorway, followed closely by the redhead who was now grasping this taller person's hand.

"Who the hell are you?" Asked the taller person. They were eyeing Miles' uniform. Obviously not a big fan of BLI, then. Based on how much they asserted themselves in the front, this was probably the leader of a crew. Meaning there were more than just these two around.

"I'm Miles Tresed, I come from the city and I'm a repair man."

There was a gasp from both. Did they not know that people came out here to do repairs.

"Did you just say... Tresed?" Asked the red head.

"Do you know a Peyton?" Asked the tall one.

"That was my brother. We got separated when I was eight. I don't remember much else about him." Miles shrugged. He was trying to keep this conversation curt. It was too fucking hot out here for him to be doing this. He tried to head back to his car, but he got tackled instead. He just wanted to go home.

"Miles! My brother!"

Miles caught a glimpse of red hair from the person who tackled him. "Get off." He wasn't very loud, so he didn’t damper their mood. He just wasn't a big fan of being hugged by someone he doesn’t really know.

"Sorry." The red head apologized and rolled off him. "Who woulda thought? My own brother come to visit."

"I'm not- no. You're Peyton? You don't look like him?" Miles was just confused now.

"I look a lot different, don’t I?” Peyton asked in a proud manner. There was something behind that tone, though Miles wasn’t sure he wanted to find out what it was.

The last time Miles saw Peyton was when he was eight years old, which would’ve been just over nine years ago, meaning that they probably did look a lot different. There was something else about them. Something Miles couldn’t quite place his finger on. “I barely remember your look at all. What happened to you?”

"Peyton was in the labs, Miles.” The tall one informed him, coming to sit in the sand with them.

"Oh." Miles looked his brother in the eyes. The irises were red. Of all the things they could be, they were red. That was what off about him. "I'm so sorry." It's universally known throughout the city that if someone has red irises, they've been tested on by BLI. And this doesn't mean just trying experimental pills. This means they've been tortured beyond belief and faced death, but still have to wear that stupid smile on their face. Assuming they even make it out alive. “That’s where they took you?”

The redhead nodded. “But I’m not that person anymore. I’m not that obedient blonde kid anymore. My name is Party Poison and I’m a fuckin’ Killjoy.”

“What about you?” Miles glanced at the other member of Party Poison’s crew. Neither of them fit into a similar aesthetic, yet they somehow looked similar.

“I’m Jet Star.” The taller one told him. “Welcome to the desert.” Jet Star’s tone was welcoming, Miles really liked him.

He looked back and forth between the two of them. Were they expecting him to stay out here? He couldn’t just leave his life behind like that . There were people at home waiting for him, “I should, uh, go. Good to see you again, Peyton, er, Party Poison. And it was nice to meet you, Jet Star.”

“You too, Miles. And if you ever need somewhere to stay, you know where to find us.” Jetsmiled and there was a glint in his eye, like he knew something Miles didn’t.

“What do you mean? Didn’t you leave the city?” Party Poison asked.

“I did, but I have to get back to the city. I’m sorry.” Miles stood up and walked quickly back to hiscar. He started the engine and drove off, leaving the Killjoys in his dust. He couldn’t get them off his mind for the whole ride back.

——

Back in the city, Miles went through his normal process of getting chewed out by his administrator for taking too long, returning all the extra supplies to one of the storage units-today was the best one, unit 12-8A, because that one was right next to the exit- then heading back to his fifth floor two person apartment while attempting to not get stuck talking to one of his coworkers in meaningless Battery City approved small talk. The only reason Miles knew that it was meaningless, or that the city was even brainwashing them at all, was because of his days at The Academy for Science, Math, and Technology, in other words, the aforementioned school BLI forced him to go to after ripping him away from his whole life. It was there he met his soon to be best friend and boyfriend, Dante Gallo. The city doesn’t know they’re dating, just that they live together.

When they met, Dante had just turned eight and was being as annoying as an eight year old could be to piss of the instructors. Dante was new to the academy and had been assigned the same academy dorm as Miles. He took an immediate liking to Dante, since they were assigned the same specialty in engineering and given the same classes. Suitable classes for an eight year old, obviously, but they were still hard. Miles was just happy he had someone to go through it with.

When they were eleven, Miles and Dante had become best friends, promising to stick with eachother for as long as the school allowed them to. They had begun to tell each other things, rumors, stories, whatever they had heard. It all started one night, just before they were meant to turn their lights out, when Dante started telling Miles something he’d heard.

“You know,” Dante started, attempting to rearrange the pillows behind him. “A chemistry kid told me today that the engineering building is above a different lab, the one where they test all the medicine and torture methods.”

Miles flipped over to look at Dante. “How’d they find that out?

Dante clicked his tongue. “He said he got to go down there to see it.”

They both knew that such a place existed, in fact, this was one of the only places kept strictly shut by BLI that the whole city knew about. It was just that nobody knew it’s location.

Miles shrugged and shifted, laying down in his bed. “Makes sense. Good night, Dante.”

Dante smiled at him. “Good night Miles.”

When they were fourteen and still working together in the academy, Dante and Miles had grown even closer, not keeping a single thing from each other. This includes the time that Dante and Miles were sitting on the roof of the engineering building, watching the rest of the city below them.

“Dante, I’ve been, I’ve been thinking.” Only weeks prior the two had voluntarily stopped taking the BLI pills, both noticing a change for the better. “I think I’d like to be your boyfriend.”

Dante nodded. “I think I’d like that.” He pulled in Miles and the two kissed. Away from the surveillance cameras, away from the watchful eyes of their instructors.

When they were sixteen and just about to graduate from the academy, Dante and Miles had devised a plan. They’d gotten their hands on an old pre-war CD and were going to hack into the buildings speaker system to play it.

“Ready?” Miles asked, holding the speaker extension with the control box on it.

“Ready.” Dante confirmed and plugged the extension into the speaker in the corner of their room, which would hopefully broadcast the CD all over the campus, since the speakers were all interconnected.

As soon as Miles hit play on the control box, the whole campus began blasting an old song that was most definitely not city sanctioned music.

“I’m not okay!” Sang the speakers. “Well, I'm not okay! I'm not o-fucking-kay!” The speakers blared before fading into an ear piercing screech.

“Hit stop! Hit stop, Miles!” Dante yelled.

Miles pressed the stop button on the control box and the screech soon faded into a crackling fizzle.

A voice interjected to tell off the offenders. “Whoever just performed that stunt, know that we are unable to trace this to you, but try it again and you will be found and taken off the premises. Have a better day.”

Dante and Miles glanced to each other before bursting out in laughter.

“That was amazing!” Dante laughed.

“So worth it.” Gushed Miles while putting away the extension and control box so one of the instructors didn’t find it in their room.

Months later, they graduated, getting their work assignments immediately after graduation. Miles received his vending machine repair job, not quite what he wanted, but he knew that in two years, when he was eighteen, he could apply for whatever job in his field he wanted. All academy kids could. Dante, on the other hand, received a job that was perfect for him. He was assigned to develop new types of guns and explosives and even go down into the labs occasionally. Dante made a promise to Miles that he would never personally hurt anyone while doing this, and never harm anyone in the underground labs. While it was a good job for him, Dante didn’t like hurting innocent people. They made a pact that when Dante turned eighteen a month after Miles, the two would both apply for monorail development and engineering jobs, that way they could work together.

The day after graduation, everyone was required to sign up for an apartment or home, either with a compatible romantic partner or with a roommate. Dante and Miles signed up for a two person apartment as roommates and received it later that day. It was on the fifth floor of an.apartment complex that overlooked onto the walls of Battery City, beyond which the desert laid.

Now, Miles was coming home to his wonderful boyfriend. Dante finished his work about an hour before Miles, then usually ended up doing his paperwork at home.

“Is that Mr. Milemarker himself?” Dante greeted with one of his endless ridiculous nicknames. Miles loved every single one.

“It absolutely is, D.” Miles took off his gloves and threw them into the glove and hat bin in the entranceway, before going over to hug his boyfriend. “How was work?”

Dante shrugged. “Same old guns, same old guilt. How was the desert?”

Miles groaned. Desert repairs only happened once a week, but he always hated it. “Ran into some Killjoys today.”

“That’s exciting!” Dante and Miles migrated over to the couch and sat right up against each other. “What were they like?”

“It was my uh, my brother actually.” Miles told him quietly. Dante’s face dropped at the news. “And who was probably his boyfriend.”

“You mentioned him a couple times when we first met, but I never heard more about him.” “Yeah…” Miles began. How was he going to tell Dante this? “He was in the labs, D. His irises are red.”

Dante put his hand onto Miles’ shoulder. “I’m so sorry Miles.” He wrapped that hand around Miles’ back and pulled him in for a hug.

“It’s okay, Dante. I’ll be alright.” Miles said more for himself than Dante. “It seemed like they wanted me to stay in the desert. Like they thought I’d left the city for good.”

Dante moved back and looked him in the eyes. “I know you’re hesitant to leave, Miles. But we have talked about it. Maybe we should take them up on that.”

“You’re right. I’m just so used to this life with you.” Miles admitted.

“We’ll still be together, dumbass.” Dante smirked.

Miles sighed. “You’re right. Let’s do it.”

“Tonight?” Dante asked.

“Tonight.” Miles confirmed.


	2. To make us feel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peyton Tresed’s backstory is hazy, but they do have one particularly vivid memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter mentions blood! If you don’t like reading about that, the only thing you’ll be missing for the escape is what the underground labs are like. Let me know if you want those details.
> 
> Peyton = Party Poison
> 
> Enjoy!

Ten years old. Not a time Peyton remembers much of. A few trips here and there, a few familiar faces sticking out. Most of their life before they were 17 years old remained in a shield of white fuzz. 

Something they do remember from being ten was their brother getting taken from them to go to school. They remember being crushed for all of one day before some BLI workers gave them a pill. After that they didn’t care. A month later the workers came back for Peyton and said they were taking them to the same school where their brother was. They agreed quickly, although they’d forgotten why they wanted to be with him.

The place that the workers had promised was not what Peyton got.  
Instead they were placed in an underground building without any natural sunlight exposure and stone cold walls keeping them inside. It was the underground labs, Peyton would later learn.

There they were subjected to be a part of BLI’s inhumane tests. Most of which they don’t remember. Except for a few.

The fire pills were one that stuck out in their head, maybe it was because of what happened right after the last time. 

A rogue BLI worker they met in the zones explained those pills like this: the consumer would experience the same sense of normalcy their entire lives, unless put into a specific frequency of electromagnetic waves. If that person is exposed to this frequency, it causes them to feel like they’ve been lit on fire underneath their skin for the entire time exposed and for up to twenty minutes after leaving the frequency field. It could be activated by either a radio or a certain device, though radios actually hitting that frequency weren’t too common.

Peyton remembered the fire pills well.

—

Their memory had been wiped, they’d done this before and they knew it, but they didn’t remember what to do in the situation.

They were in a room. Pitch black. They couldn’t even see the shaggy blond hair that sometimes hung over their eyes. Unlike most of the other tests, they weren’t bound to their chair. In fact, the chair wasn’t even the normal metal. It was wood. They wondered what was going on, although it was familiar, and reached out to see if they could feel anything else around them. Bad idea.

Next thing Peyton knew, they were screaming and gripping onto their hand like someone had just ripped it off, even though they’d done nothing. They screamed and screamed, but to no avail. Peyton tried jumping off the chair to find one of the scientists in the underground. All this did was transfer the sensation from their hand to the rest of their body. Peyton was screaming bloody murder now. Tears flooded their eyes and spilled over as the dam of their emotions had broken when they were struck with pain.

The lights came on around them and a voice oozed out of the intercom.  
“Subject 2x97-b,” it addressed. “You may head towards the exit. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Peyton staggered towards the exit, still feeling like they were burning. They couldn’t be happier to go back to the cement broom closet they called a room. They collapsed onto the cot that had gotten it’s sheets changed while Peyton was gone and cried and tugged at their hair. It was no use changing the sheets, Peyton ended up scratching at the burning sensation vibrating throughout their body, especially their arms. They scratched and they scratched and they scratched until their nails were nothing more than stubs and their arms looked like they’d been put through a meat grinder. The burning had finally stopped, but now the sheets below them seemed to have been dyed red.

Peyton whimpered and cried harder. Why did they have to go through this?  
As they were crying a knock came to their door. Probably a nurse or someone with more pills to wipe Peyton’s memory and stop their emotions again.  
They didn’t bother looking up until they felt a large hand touch their back. This was not protocol. Something was up.

Peyton glanced up from the bloody sheet they had their face buried in and the sight their eyes were blessed with was miraculous. Peyton wasn’t sure they could believe it. Standing over them was a tall man with long curly hair and the most beautiful eyes Peyton had ever seen. They really couldn’t believe it, this was their savior finally come to free them of purgatory.

“Hey,” The man greeted. “I’m going to need you to stay as quiet as possible. Can you do that for me?”

Peyton nodded.

The man held out his hand and Peyton took it. They nearly fell over, since the nerve endings in their legs had been fucked by whatever that room had done to them. The man steadied them and helped them walk out of the small room, getting them into the hallway.

He handed them a lab coat- the standard wear of BLI labs underground scientists- and Peyton put it on. They lifted a shaky hand to point at their eyes, as if to ask ‘what the hell am I supposed to do about these?’ Their eyes were bright red. The same bright red that every other single test subject had. Peyton had never talked to any of them, but they’d seen them in passing and caught glimpses of their eyes. They knew what they saw in those eyes, even if a lot of their memories got erased.

The man shrugged and began walking slowly down the hallway.

Peyton slowly followed him, excited to possibly have an out from the labs.

They’d gotten half way down the hall when a real scientist passed by the two. Each acted like they were supposed to be down there. Peyton flattened out the bottom of their lab coat as the real scientist came by to avoid eye contact. Once they passed, both let out a sigh of relief.

“That was close.” The man whispered.

They continued down the hallway until they’d reached the BLI only service elevator. Which, of course, required a code to get inside. Before Peyton could even tell the man these elevators were no use, he’d already gotten the control box open and played with a few wires, gaining access to the elevators. Handy.

The two got in and the man told the elevator to take them to the outside entrance, the one where Peyton might actually be able to see the sun. The ride there was long enough to strike up a conversation.

“What’s your name?” The man asked.

“Subject 2x97-b.” Peyton stated.

“No your name.” The man put an emphasis on the ‘your’ and Peyton was able to put the pieces together soon enough.

“Peyton- Peyton Tresed.” Their voice was shaky. That’s a name they hadn’t used in years.

“I’m Jet Star.” The man introduced. He held a hand out for Peyton to shake and they took it, a genuine smile blooming across their face. Well, at least an attempt at one.

The elevator dinged and Jet pulled a gun out of a holster Peyton hadn’t previously seen.

Peyton’s eyes widened, they were not expecting that.

Jet Star ushered them quickly out of the elevator as soon as it opened, but slowed down once the two had rounded the corner of the outside of the building. They kept walking. And walking. And walking. Peyton actually thought their legs might give out. Thankfully, they reached a stark white car parked near the edge of the Battery City walls.

“Wanna see the Zones, Peyton?” Jet Star asked, already walking over to the passenger side of the car. 

Peyton nodded vigorously. Anywhere but here, it didn’t really matter.

“Hop in the back.” Jet instructed.

Peyton gripped onto the car door of the back seat and pulled, but was unable to open it. Their arms were fucked, too. This brought to Peyton’s attention that they were still wearing the lab coat. And that the lab coat had been stained a nasty shade of red. They pulled it off and crumpled it up in disgust, holding onto it so no one would find it.

Whoever was in the backseat noticed Peyton’s inability to open the door, and swung it open slowly to allow them inside. The person in the backseat was shorter than Jet, and had similar hair to Peyton’s.

The driver was about the same height as Jet and had blond and blue hair, complimentary of his striking blue eyes. Peyton saw his eyes when he turned around to address them as a newcomer.

“This the kid you got?” He asked.

“Yup.” Jet confirmed. “I heard ‘im crying and couldn’t just leave ‘im.”

“You could hear me?” Peyton asked quietly.

“Your sobs were practically screams. I’m pretty sure the whole building could hear you.”

“Oh.” Peyton had no idea they were even sobbing. As far as they had known their tears were silent. What had that room done to them?

“Good to meet ya.” The driver greeted in a nice tone. “I’m Cherri Cola.”

Jet Star turned in his seat to meet eyes with Peyton. “And the person next to ya,” Jet shot a friendly look to the person next to Peyton. “Is Show Pony. We found them at our last run on this place.”

When Peyton locked eyes with Show Pony they were greeted with the same bright red irises Peyton was all too familiar with. They’d never met anyone else in the labs, and it was kind of nice to have a shared experience, even if it was torture.

“Hey!” Show Pony seemed excited, like they’d already begun to leave behind their bad thoughts for those of good ones with their new family.  
Maybe that’s what Peyton should start doing. “You’re just like me!” Show Pony’s eyes darted down to look at Peyton’s arms for just a split second before meeting their eyes again.

“Yeah,” Peyton tried giving them a genuine smile, though it was hard with all the medicine BLI had constantly given them. While it wasn’t as obvious on Show Pony’s face when Peyton saw them smile, the traces were still there.

“How did you get in?” Peyton didn’t know what else to say to Show Pony, so they turned to Jet Star with a question that had recently surfaced in their mind.

“It wasn’t really that hard. I’ve been doin’ this for two weeks, no idea why BLI hasn’t caught on yet, but…” Jet laughed. “I told them that I was a repairman for their electricity in the rooms. I plan to get into each separate room and free as many subjects as possible.”

“What about the car?”

“It’s a stolen exterminator car, and Cherri is dressed as an exterminator. No suspicion from the city if he’s confident.” Jet explained.

“And am I? Hell yes.” Cherri played with the sleeves of one of his multiple shirts before finally starting the engine. “Ready kiddos?”

Show Pony and Peyton both told him “yes.” And they were off.

On the way out of the city, Show Pony turned towards Peyton again. “What’d they do to your arms?”

Peyton shook their head. “I don’t really know what it’s called, but it felt like I was on fire. This is from me scratching at it.”  
Show Pony nodded. “That sounds horrifying.”

“What’d they do to you?”

Show Pony looked down at their legs. “I got most of my bones replaced with artificial ones to see if those could create a more efficient and faster soldier. I’m really flexible.” To prove their point they lifted up their leg and brought it behind their head, bending it around their neck with ease.

“Oh god.” Peyton commented quietly.

“We can get over it together, uh,” Show Pony gave that sympathetic look people give when they don’t remember your name.

“Peyton.”

“We got this Peyton. Together we’ll rule the whole fuckin’ world.” Show Pony smiled again and Party really saw BLI in it this time. The way they nearly had to strain their face to try and get it to look real, only to make it look even more forced from doing so. 

Peyton smiled the same smile back and they stared into the other’s eyes. Show Pony’s smile relaxed and they scooched over to wrap their arm around Peyton, carefully avoiding the parts of their arms that had been bleeding.

Peyton had nearly fallen asleep on Show Pony’s shoulder when they got jostled forward and hit their head on the seat in front of them. Not a fun experience.  
Jet came around to open their door and help Party get out of the back seat. They grabbed onto his hand and he helped them maneuver out of the back and into his arms.

“Are ya doing alright, Peyton?” Jet asked softly. His voice was so comforting that Peyton wanted to be wrapped up in it and lay in his arms forever.

Peyton nodded. They were good enough.

When Jet released them, they noticed the diner laying in the desert. “Is this where we’re staying?”

Cherri, who had previously disappeared, came back carrying a stack of clothes. “These are for you, Peyton.” He began to walk away, but turned back towards Peyton. “Come on, I’ll show you somewhere you can change.”

Peyton followed him until they reached a room and Cherri opened the door for them.

“You can go in if you want, it’s not too dirty.” He smirked and laughed quietly.  
Peyton didn’t know why.

“Could you, uh,” Peyton didn’t know how to ask this. He wanted to have Cherri in the room with him, he didn’t want to be alone again.

“Do you want me in there?” Cherri asked. Peyton thought he would sound disgusted, but his tone was gentle.

“Yes, please.” 

Cherri nodded and walked in first, allowing Peyton some time to look around at the inside. He remained silent for the entire time Peyton was changing their clothes, and remained silent as the two walked back to the diner.

Cherri walked him back to a separate room in the motel behind the diner and Peyton slept and slept and slept for days.

At some point their arms were bandaged up, but that’s all they remember from that.

——

It was nearly six months later when physical repercussions started to occur for both Peyton and Show Pony. Minus the BLI drug withdrawal, which was absolute hell.

Show Pony would complain of joints hurting or feeling too cramped. They explained that it hurt to walk most of the time, and would even refuse to leave some days because of the pain.

Jet Star, being ever the problem solver, came up with a solution: leg braces. He got some for Show Pony as soon as he could get his hands on a pair, and immediately there was a difference.

Show Pony was wearing them everywhere, and while they said it did still hurt, it was manageable. Eventually, with a little more help from Cherri, they were able to get their legs to stop hurting completely.

Peyton’s problem, on the other hand, was not so easily curable. 

Their problem didn’t make itself known until a visit to Dr. D’s with Jet Star. Dr. D was showing them how to use the sound board. 

“And this,” he pointed towards a large white and black button on the board. “Is how you’ll alert the desert to drac invasions. If the song fades into the screech this button makes, the desert knows to lock down.” Dr. D pressed the button to show what it did, since he didn’t set it to broadcast. The radio blared out a screech at a frequency that Peyton knew all too well, but didn’t realize it at the time. Dr. D turned it off and wheeled around to look at Peyton and Jet. “That’s ‘bout all ya need to know for the radio, kiddos.”

“That’s pretty cool.” Commented Jet Star, though he seemed far away for some reason. “I always wondered what that button that did.”

“Yeah, that’s-” Peyton froze, a feeling beginning to spread throughout their body. They dropped to the floor and began hyperventilating, attempting to keep themselves from reacting to the feeling. The burning. It was back.  
That frequency was the same one that BLI used to torture Peyton. They didn’t think it would stick around for this long.

“Peyton!” A voice yelled, although Peyton couldn’t make out whose.  
Hot tears rolled down their face and they reached out, grabbing at the air, choking the invisible source that was causing this. They began to scratch at their arms again, reopening their old scars and yet again diminishing their fingernails. Blood pooled on the floor and Peyton coated his hands in it, looking for anything to cool off the sensation.

“What the fuck happened!?” Someone yelled.

“I don’t know! They’ve never done this before!” A different voice responded.

“Call Cherri Cola!” The first voice shouted.

There was more said, but Peyton couldn’t hear it over their tears. Tears that they felt. Every other time this has happened, it was back at BLI and they’d been so drugged that any remnants of emotion would dissipate before Peyton could ever really know what they were. But now, six months without a BLI pill, they felt every single sting. Pain. Agony. The need to escape whatever this was.

They sobbed and cried out. “Make it stop!”

Jet bent down and reached for one of their hands. “Hey, Peyton, it’s alright, honey. How bad is it one to ten?” Jet’s voice was calming, but it wasn’t enough. The scale was nice, though, it was easy for them to get those words out.

Peyton writhed on the ground and whimpered at the touch. “Twelve.”

Jet carded his hand through their hair and Peyton focused on that. Breathe in time with the strokes, they tried, and it actually worked. For about thirty seconds.

“FUCK!” Peyton screamed as a new burst of pain shot through their body. They gripped onto whatever was closest, which happened to be Jet’s arm.

“Can I lift you up?” Jet asked softly.

Peyton nodded and groaned from the motion.

Jet lifted them into his arms and Peyton gripped on even tighter, the movement making their teeth clench. They felt skin break beneath their fingertips, but they didn't know what to do with that at the moment.

Jet rubbed their back and Peyton sobbed into his chest, horrific memories being brought up now that the pain had registered.

The pain subsided after a few minutes in Jet's arms, but that didn't mean they wanted to let go.

"Cherri's here, Pey." Jet whispered.

Peyton nodded and released their grip on Jet Star, noticing the blood they drew from his arms. Behind them, Jet and Cherri were silently discussing what had happened to Peyton, while they gathered the strength to interject what it was.

"The radio..." They mumbled, finding a non blood stained spot to sit.

"What?" Both asked.

"The radio frequency..." Peyton was having trouble with words at the moment, but some were still working. They got up and hobbled over to the sound board, where they pointed at the black and white button. "It’s BLI's frequency."

"Oh." Cherri actually looked like he'd figured it out. "Did they use that frequency to torture you?"

Peyton nodded and sat down on the spot. The burning had thankfully passed, now they were just feeling sick.

Jet came over and picked them up bridal style. He kissed their forehead in a gentle manner. "I love you, Peyton." Jet said only to them.

Peyton attempted a smile. "Love you too." They leaned their head forward to fall asleep on Jet's chest and hopefully never have to go through that experience again.


	3. I can’t go back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dante and Miles attempt their escape, only for Miles to get the same treatment as their sibling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter also mentions blood! Let me know if you want filled in.
> 
> This is the last time I’m torturing the Tresed siblings or Dante for a while, I swear.

Miles gathered everything he and Dante would need to go out to the desert, and stole some supplies from his work bag because just because. He took a backpack full of clothes, various mechanical devices like a vending machine hacker, a power chord and universal control box, cheat book of BLI codes, and Dante’s layout of the underground.

He’d put on a plain black shirt and black pants, and was waiting by the door at twelve am for Dante to be ready. They were planning on escaping through the underground labs posed as a couple of engineers.

“Ready, Cheetah?” Dante asked as he slung his own backpack over his shoulder. 

Miles sighed. “I guess.” he opened the door with one last look in his apartment, he really would be gone for good. As he and Dante walked down the stairs, he thought more about this. That was the last time he was ever going to see that apartment again, hell that's the last time he'll ever be in an apartment again. Fucking freaky.

The two reached the bottom of the stairs and Miles turned to Dante. "Now where?"

Dante thought for a moment before answering. "There's an entrance around back that's used for deliveries that we should be able to get into."

Their apartment was right next to the engineering building, which was right above the labs. The labs led to an exit that was nearly at the edge of the walls that there was no access to besides going through either a massive BLI check point that was bound to get them arrested, or through the underground labs. The labs were obviously the better option.

Dante and Miles snuck into the delivery entrance with no problem at all, the uniforms they were wearing were the same ones that Dante wore to get down there, so no one questioned them.

They'd made it past the experimentation rooms and were just about to the end of the hallway, passing by the last of the patients.

A booming voice stopped them dead in their tracks. "Mr. Tresed and Mr. Gallo," the voice addressed. "What are you doing down here?" Oh, of course it just had to be the one instructor that hated Miles more than any other living thing in this world. Just great.

"Heading to mechanics, sir. I was told this way would be best." Dante tried confidently.

"Mr. Tresed has no clearance being down here. Please come with me."

They followed the instructor back down the hall and towards a room, the one that controlled all the experiments, as Dante had explained.

They were told to sit down in a pair of rickety chairs in front of a large cedar desk, though no one was at it.

"If you two will take these." The instructor handed them each a pill, both different colors.

Miles and Dante looked at each other in disgust, but knew that the instructor would not leave until they downed the pills. Both were taken at the same time, and they planned to just keep them under their tongues until the man left. He shot them a menacing look and headed out of the room, knowing something the two didn't.

That something was the fact that instead of capsules, these were powder pills. They disintegrated under their tongues in a matter of seconds. Fuck.

"What do we do now?" Dante sounded scared.

"I don't know, baby, I don't." Miles wrapped his arms around Dante, he didn't care what BLI was going to do to him for that anymore, he was going to be killed anyways.

They stayed like that until Miles began to get warm. "Is it getting hot in here, or is it just m-" Miles was cut off as he fell to the ground.

“Miles!” Dante yelled, but he sounded four rooms away. He was frantically trying to take Miles’ pulse while his hands were shaking worse than they ever have before. “Damn pills.” The tremors in Dante’s hands didn’t stop him from successfully finding out that Miles was alive. “What’d they give you?”

Miles was about to answer when whatever had happened was upped by about 200 percent. He began choking on air and he was pretty sure there was blood pouring from his eyes, since all he could see was red. The blood got into his mouth and he began choking on that instead.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Dante repeated over and over, like it was a mantra. His hands began shaking more and soon all Miles could feel was the vibration of Dante’s hand on his neck. He grabbed onto Dante’s shoulder to keep steady and started coughing, trying to get whatever it was choking him out of his throat. All this did was cover both of them in blood. 

Miles gripped his neck and choked out a word. “Help.” He hacked up more blood before passing out in Dante’s arms.

Dante was really freaking out now, and it didn’t help that the rest of his body began to shake, not just his hands. “Gotta find a normal pill, gotta find a normal pill.” Repeating the phrase over and over again helped Dante focus on the task at hand, rather than his shaking. He laid Miles down on the ground and ran up to the desk, throwing the drawers open and searching for something that could counteract Miles’ condition.

A feminine voice cut in via the overhead speakers. “Peyton Tresed escaped with a rebel two years ago, after having been given the same pill Miles was given. Except two years ago, that pill wasn’t lethal. The version we’ve given to Miles has been developed to kill him in five minutes. You have two minutes left, Dante Gallo.”

Dante inhaled and began looking faster, there had to be something else here. He pulled one of the drawers out and hastily shuffled through the contents. Dante picked up a small container, but he could barely read it. “Fuck! The bag!” He scrambled over to the bag they had brought with them and dumped out the contents. Inside he found just what he was looking for: a bottle of pain medication. Not BLI pills, normal non-brainwashing prewar pain meds. He tumbled over himself and cupped Miles’ face in his hands. “Please work.” He muttered as he dumped the container of pills down Miles’ throat. 

Miles began coughing again and spit out 90% of the pills Dante had shoved in his mouth, but the only thing that mattered at that moment was that Dante had saved him. “You did it, D,” he rasped, pulling in Dante for a kiss before nearly passing out again. His tear ducts were still filled with blood and he could barely see anything, but the touch was there, and he enjoyed it.

“You scared the shit out of me, you dumbass!” Dante pulled back from their brief kiss, but didn’t dare let go of his grip on Miles.

“It’s not my fault!”

“I know, I just-” Dante glanced down at his still trembling hands. “I thought I lost you.” 

“You should take some medication too, Dante, you look horrible.” Miles handed him the bottle of pills and Dante downed two, reaching out for Miles’ hand.

Miles took it and they supported each other as both went to stand up, each unsteady in different areas. Behind them, the door clicked open and the two began walking towards it, bag in Miles hand.

They made for the exit as quickly as possible, which actually wasn't actually all that fast. They got into the elevator with Dante's code and sat inside, waiting for it to make to ground level. The two made it outside, but realized they still had to get outside the wall.

"We could get through the checkpoint?" Dante suggested.

Miles shrugged. "Nothing else we could do."

They snuck behind the booth and actually made it out with no interference. Miles was pretty sure someone saw them, but that doesn't matter. Because now they were in the desert. They were free.

"Do you remember where your brother lives?" Dante asked.

Miles nodded. Of course he did. 

The two began the long walk that was ahead of them out to the diner, but it would soon be worth it. They'd been walking for what had to be a good hour when the need for water, a resource they didn't have, made itself known. Miles throat was still scratchy, but he was doing alright, he could make it. Dante, on the other hand, looked like he was about to puke his guts out. Combined with the heat and the fact that his hands were still shaking from that pill, Miles was surprised Dante hadn’t passed out yet.

"Hey, D, do you need to stop?"

Dante shook his head, but Miles wasn't accepting that answer.

"There's a building up just a little ways, why don't we break there?" Miles suggested. He didn’t want Dante to suffer, no matter how much he insisted that he was fine.

Dante nodded and looked grateful for the suggestion, even if he wouldn't admit it.

They made it to the building and nearly collapsed outside it. Somebody obviously heard them, because out came a pair of feet, followed closely by another.

"Who’s there!?" Yelled a voice from inside.

"Couple of dust angels, prolly dehydrated!" One of the people in front of Miles and Dante yelled back.

"See if you can get em inside!" The first person yelled back.

One person dragged in Dante, while the other took Miles. Whoever they were, they were strong. The pair were set down in a large chair, Miles underneath and Dante on his lap.

“Cherri, get ‘em some water, and Pony, can you get the smaller one onto the ground? That angle looks like it’s hurting ‘im.” The person inside the room instructed. 

Miles was sort of relieved to have the weight of Dante off of him, his throat was a little swollen and scratchy from the incident, and Dante leaning on his chest was not helping him breathe. He looked down from the chair to see Dante now on the ground, laying on his side, looking off into the distance like someone was about to kill him. That was a terrifying look. “Dante,” Miles whispered. “You doing alright?”

Dante turned over so he could look at Miles. He smiled weakly up at him. “Not really. You were right.” He admitted.

Miles slid off the chair so he could join him on the ground. A moment later presumably Cherri came back with their water. What an odd name.

Dante grabbed the dusty plastic bottle and drank three quarters of it within thirty seconds. Damn.

Miles, on the other hand, took his time drinking it. The water was lukewarm, but still extremely soothing on his throat. “Thank you.” He looked up at Cherri and shot him his best smile. Cherri nodded and smiled back.

“Call Jet and P over here, you two, I wanna talk to these two.” The person from across the room wheeled over so they were just about three feet from Dante and Miles. Dante was now nursing Miles’ water, which he had given him, but Miles was able to look up at them. “What’re your names?”

Miles decided to answer, since Dante seemed a little busy. “Miles Tresed and Dante Gallo.” 

The person’s eyes widened. “Tresed? Ya gotta sibling?”

“Yes, sir. Peyton, I believe.”

“They said ya weren't coming, guess they were wrong.” The person commented. “Nice ta meet ya kiddos, I’m Dr. Death Defying.”

One of the two who left came back on roller skates and stopped right beside Dr. Death Defying. “Jet said they’d be here in ten minutes, but Party’s driving, so I’d give ‘em five.” They skated over to Dante and Miles, bending down to their level. "Hey, is your friend okay?" They asked Miles. He hadn't been looking at Dante, since he was laying on the other side of Miles, but flipping over revealed to him that Dante had begun shaking again. 

"Dante!"

Dante looked at him with distantly before closing his eyes and groaning, he did stop shaking as violently as he had been a second before, now it was mostly just his hands.

"Is there anything we can do to help him?" Miles sat up and pleaded. The onset of a migraine was throbbing in the back of his head, but he chose to ignore it for the time being.

"Grab 'im some more water, might help him." Dr. Death Defying told him.

Miles got up and followed the roller skater through a door and into a storage room, where there were dusty water bottles being stored. He grabbed one and ran back into the room, sliding over to where Dante was. He knelt down and held the bottle out to him. "Hey D, can you drink this?" He asked in a quiet voice.

Dante reached out for it and took it, but wasn't able to get it into his mouth. Instead he attempted to sit up, Miles helping him do so. The roller skater held the bottle to his lips and tilted it back, allowing Dante to drink while Miles rubbed his back. "Thank you." Dante barely got out after drinking about half the bottle. He was steady enough now to take the bottle and set it beside him. He put his arms out to hug the roller skater. "I think it was whatever BLI gave me, combined with the, uh," he cleared his throat. "The heat."

"It sure is hot out there." The roller skater agreed. "What's your name, sugar? I meant to ask it but, y'know."

"Dante Gallo." His voice was groggy and he attempted a somewhat shaky smile.

"How 'bout you?" They asked Miles.

"Miles Tresed."

The roller skater made a knowing look at him before continuing on. “Y’all can call me Show Pony.” They smiled. “And the recluse is Cherri Cola, but he’s probably waiting for Party and Jet.” They sat down and stretched out their legs with a small oof sound.

The door behind them opened and Miles caught sight of bright red hair. He knew exactly who was here.

“Who the fuck did you say was-” Party cut themselves off when they caught sight of their brother. “Miles?”

“Party Poison.” Miles smiled that BLI smile at them.


	4. Don't think I will

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The formation of the Fab Four.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a fun chapter to write! I hope you enjoy!

“Miles?” Party Poison repeated themselves. “What the fuck.”

“Miles is here?” Jet Star asked. He was followed in the door by Cherri Cola, who went over by the radio with Dr. Death Defying.

“Jet!” Show Pony exclaimed. “You’ve met my new friends?” They skated over to greet Jet Star.

“Jet Star,” Miles addressed. “Guess you were right about me, huh?” He knew what the glint in Jet’s eye meant now, but he still wanted to know how Jet knew that would happen. “How’d you know?”

“I grew up in the academy. I knew all it took was an offer of somewhere to stay and you’d be outta the city. That’s what Cherri did with me, at least.” Jet told him. 

That made a lot of sense to Miles, actually. But assuming Jet was the same age as his brother, wouldn’t he have seen Jet at the academy at least once? Those age groups tended to be mixed around, especially with the mechanics and engineering kids. Unless… “What’d you do at the academy, Jet?”

“Chemistry, oddly enough.” Jet nodded, confirming his own memory and moved towards Party.

“Alright, Jet, I’ve got two more questions: how old are you now, and when did you leave the city?” Has Jet been a part of his life before?

“I’m uh, nineteen right now.” Two years older than Miles. Things were masking sense. “And I left when I was fourteen ‘cause I didn’t like what I was doing and I had an out.”

“I lied, one more question. Did you ever tell some kid about the labs?”

“I told a lotta kids about the labs, you’re gonna need to be more specific.” Jet had his arm around Party now. When had that happened?

“Short, black hair, brown eyes, kinda rowdy, his name was Dante?” Miles specified to see if Jet had already met his boyfriend years ago.

“Bomb structure workshop?” Jet asked a detail in return.

Dante, who’d only been half paying attention to this whole thing, croaked a “Yes!” From his spot on the floor.

“Yeah, then.” Jet shrugged. “Who is that?” He let his arm fall and took hold of Party’s hand instead, both going over to check out Dante, whom they hadn’t met yet.

“That’s my boyfriend, Dante, he helped convince me to leave. And you obviously talked to him before you left the academy.” Miles followed Jet and Party over, but went farther to take a seat with Dante. Miles noticed that Show Pony had taken up a spot alongside Cherri Cola and Dr. Death Defying by the radio. “We just went through some shit in the labs.”

“Like what?” Party asked, red eyes darker than before.

“Whatever Dante took weakened his body, I think. He got really shaky. And mine, um…” Miles trailed off. He really didn’t want to relive what had happened.

“It made him bleed from his eyes.” Dante finished for him. “Nearly killed him.”

“They said they’d given it to you.” Miles told Party. That was true, but he wasn't really conscious when the speaker had told Dante that it was a more developed version of what Party had received.

“Worse.” Dante informed.

“Do you react to sound?” Jet asked in a hurried tone.

“No, sir, I don’t think so.” Miles shook his head and leaned back. Now everything was starting to catch up with him since the excitement had died down. What he really wanted was sleep, but that didn’t seem likely any time soon. Instead he settled for holding hands with Dante, who looked nearly asleep himself. Lucky bastard. 

Party and Jet had abandoned them to talk things other with Cherri, Show Pony, and Dr. Death Defying.

Miles was close to drifting off, much better than he thought he was going to achieve when the voice of Dr. Death Defying woke him right up.

“Poison, ear plugs.” He ordered. Following that he went to the soundboard and pressed a button. What came through sounded like gibberish, although Dr. Death Defying seemed to understand, since he was writing it down perfectly.

“Whassat?” Miles slurred out, his voice sleepy.

“A cipher message, from a zone runner it looks like.” Cherri came over and joined the two on the floor. Dante was fully asleep at this point, so he didn’t notice. “Cipher so BLI can’t intercept what’s bein’ said. We weren’t sure at first, an’ sometimes BLI likes to spam the airwaves with the frequency that hurts Poise.”

“Oh.” That sounds like a curse to live with. The constant fear they could be killed with a sound they might not even be able to hear would be terrifying, Miles decided. At least his problem wasn’t sound based.

“Get in the van, kiddos, ya got some dracs out on the border of Zone 2.” Dr. Death Defying told them. He was kinda bossy, but Miles didn’t mind it.

Party took out their ear plugs and replaced them with a yellow mask on their face. Jet tied a bandana around his neck and threw a yellow ray gun to Party.

“What ‘bout Miles and Dante, should we take ‘em?” Jet asked, then threw a couple of plain bandanas to the two. Miles caught a red one, while Dante caught a green one.

“Take ‘em, then drop ‘em off at the diner to get some new clothes. And don’t give either a gun.” Dr. Death Defying responded.

“Why’re ya lookin’ at me!” Party whined. They had obviously done something in the past like this.

“You know why, now get goin’! ‘Fore I hafta to drive ya myself.”

“Miles, Dante? You wanna go?” Jet was asking, but Miles knew there was no point, they were going to end up leaving anyhow. “Get in the back of the van, you can just sit during the clap.”

Miles sat up and pulled Dante up against his will. He was going if Miles had to.

“Where’re we going?” Dante groaned.

“We’re getting in a van, D.” Miles dragged Dante all the way out to the whit van parked in front of the shack and heaved him into the back, sliding him over to the doorless side. Now that Miles thought about it, these people could easily be taking   
Miles and Dante to be killed and they wouldn’t even realize it. Oh well, he might as well go along with it now. What were they going to do, kill him? BLI already tried that.

“Kilometer, just leave me.” Dante said dramatically.

“Not going to happen, Dante.”

“Fuck.” He mumbled.

Jet and Party got in the front, followed by Cherri and Show Pony who piled in the back with the two already back there. Jet drove for about twenty minutes- he was better than any driver in the city- before arriving at the supposed border of Zone 2.

The four killjoys got out and Miles saw an array of light flashing outside the van. That got him thinking. Was he a killjoy now? He guessed so, since that’s basically what running away from the city meant. That, or he could live in a neutral town, but there’s no way he’s abandoning his brother after all this.

Miles was deep in thought for an uncertain amount of time before the killjoys returned to the car. Show Pony looked like they had scratches across their nose and legs and Jet Star had a bloody nose he was tending to with his bandana. Miles realized he was still wearing his own bandana, even though he didn’t actually fight.

“Everybody good? Great.” Party, who was driving now since Jet couldn’t, didn’t even give time for a response before driving away in the van.

Cherri pulled Show Pony close to him and began inspecting his legs. They were speaking in a tone inaudible to Miles, but Dante could either hear them or was delirious. Or both.

“Are you two dating?” He asked them softly.

Cherri and Show Pony looked at each other before bursting into laughter.

“Us?” Cherri laughed.

“Dating?” Show Pony finished his sentence. It might not be obvious to them, but they certainly had the dynamic.

“Very funny.” Agreed Jet in a nasally voice. He probably would’ve laughed, but he seemed kind of restricted at the moment. 

Party hummed a yes.

The van pulled quickly off to the side of the road and Party was already around the side to open the door. “Head on inside, Cherri’ll get ya some clothes.”

Cherri nodded, and hopped out of the van. He whispered something to Party Poison before walking up to the diner.

Miles and Dante slowly but surely made their way up to meet him at the door.

“So,” Cherri began. “What’re your favorite colors?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed my username! coolenmity is no longer, my user is ravenphantom now!! Same goes for tumblr, you can now find me @raven-phantom

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! Leave a comment or find me on tumblr @raven-phantom


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